It’s a little too early for New Year’s, but Giada de Laurentiis is already predicting the next big trend of 2012.

The Italian chef, Food Network star and cookbook author says next year will be all about “vegetarian, vegetarian, vegetarian.”

“I think people are just really looking for lighter food on a regular basis,” Giada said.

“Because of that I’m testing out a lot of pizza recipes with gluten-free flours. Almond flour and quinoa are two of my new favorite ingredients to use in everything. I’ve been playing around with them a lot — how to make fresh pasta with it, how to put it into baked goods — and then, of course, agave as a substitute for sugar. I’m trying to find fun ways to incorporate these things that have actually been around for a long time, not necessarily in our culture, and make them more mainstream.”

In the video below from the Food Network, Giada explains her motivations for developing vegetarian recipes, which include both her fans and her family.

“I was shocked at the overwhelming response that most people wanted some really creative, tasty vegetarian dishes,” she said.

“My mother about 15-20 years ago decided she was going to become a vegetarian and that’s when I sort of made it my mission to start coming up with dishes that wouldn’t make you miss the meat.”

[…] is expecting veg cooking to be big next year and will be featuring meatless dishes on her shows. According to Vegetarian Star, Giada says she thinks people want lighter foods and have asked for more vegetarian recipes. […]